Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – By the time Marcus Morgan made his state baseball tournament debut last month his feats as a four-sport athlete were already well documented to many.

Before throwing a pitch at the state tournament Morgan quarterbacked the West High football team to the state quarterfinals last fall, helped the Trojans reach the state basketball tournament this winter and earned a medal in the state high jump.

Competing in high school sports year-round keeps Morgan busy and had made the West High sophomore a bit of a baseball mystery outside Eastern Iowa.

That all changed this summer.

Morgan capped a stellar sophomore season with three consecutive dominating postseason wins including a victory over Pleasant Valley in the Class 4A state quarterfinals.

For all of his accomplishments Morgan has been named the 2019 Your Prep Sports area baseball player of the year.  

“We knew he was going to be good but he is playing at an all-state level as a sophomore,” West High coach Charlie Stumpff said. “At the state tournament all of a sudden the Perfect Game guys get to see him for the first time because he’s been an unknown quantity to a lot of baseball people – but not to us.”

Early multi-sport success for Morgan has resulted in a scholarship offer from Iowa State for football and interest from a number of programs for basketball.

The busy schedule made Morgan a bit of a baseball unknown for many though he has already impressed the coaching staff at Iowa enough to earn a scholarship offer.

A full schedule of in-season sports prevents Morgan from attending showcase events for baseball that attract scouts and college coaches.  

“He plays AAU basketball and that starts in April and May so he’s playing basketball when all that is going on,” West High coach Charlie Stumpff said. “In the fall when guys are going to showcases he’s playing football. It just doesn’t work for him when you are playing year-round sports.”  

Morgan would like to compete in offseason baseball, showing off his high 80s fastball and sharp breaking slider to college coaches and scouts but those events simply don’t fit into this schedule.

For the moment that is just fine for Morgan who boasted a 10-0 record and sparkling .71 ERA in a career-high 59 1/3 innings this season.

“It would be convenient if I could do everything but that’s not the way it is with my schedule and I’m fine with the way it is,” Morgan said. “Playing in front of coaches is great but I love playing in front of the fans here and being able to play in front of all my friends and family here is special.”

Morgan showed a glimpse of his baseball potential last season going 6-1 with a 1.75 ERA in 36 innings as a freshman.

This season Morgan climbed into the state’s elite.

He earned first-team all-state honors from the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association and was named to the Elite all-state team compiled by the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association.

“He does everything, he has great stuff, he has great command and he has great composure,” Stumpff said. “Anything you want out there on the mound he has it and that’s how you get a guy that is 10-0 while pitching all those high-leverage big-game situations.”

Morgan led 4A with 105 strikeouts, averaging nearly 1.8 per inning and his .71 ERA ranked fourth in 4A. Opponents hit just .148 against the right-hander.

“I would think from a results standpoint he is ahead of where we thought he would be,” Stumpff said. “He had potential, he had the body and the live arm but he’s more than just throwing he just gets results. In big spots he makes big pitches and he steps up.”

Morgan made huge strides on the mound this season but the all-around athlete made an even bigger jump at the plate.

After collecting one hit in five at bats last season Morgan ranked third on the team with a.404 batting average this season.

“I did surprise myself a little bit with my hitting,” Morgan said. “I just got in the cage and I worked and I found my swing and I was able to have some success.”

Morgan had three home runs, drove in 32 runs and scored 31 times while becoming a player that Stumpff couldn’t keep out of the lineup.

After starting the season toward the bottom of a potent Trojan lineup, Morgan found a home in the number two spot late in the season.

“I don’t believe we thought he’d be this good this early, he is a really good athlete, he’s strong but he did not have a good year hitting for us and that’s a big jump for us,” Stumpff said. “We were hoping he could become an above average hitter to a good hitter and put him down in bottom of the lineup somewhere and he just kept moving up the ladder and we finally put him in the two hole where he was really good.”

It was late in the season where Morgan showed exactly how good he could be on the mound.

In three postseason wins he allowed just two earned runs on eight hits and struck out 39 in 19 1/3 innings.

“I felt the best late in the season,” Morgan said. “Going into the substate and state games I wanted to be feeling my best and I think the coaches used me in the right way to have me feeling my best going into the postseason.”

Morgan isn’t in a hurry to make a decision on his future. With two years of high school left he’s enjoying playing every sport.

Stumpff likes the fact his ace has a diverse athletic background.

“He does everything, he likes everything and I think he’s been open to everything, I think he just enjoys doing what he’s doing,” Stumpff said. “I think it’s fantastic because that’s how it was a couple of generations ago. I think when Marcus specializes in something he’s going to be really good.”

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